Chapter Ten

Since Gabrielle wanted a night to herself, she got up in the middle of the afternoon and went hunting for some lessers. It was a risky move attacking the enemy during the day since they knew vampires couldn't bet outside or they'd be fried alive. But she spent an hour lighting some sage and seeing the future. She even wrote down the attacks on a pad in case she forgot anything. Leaving Sam a voicemail on his phone, Gabrielle was out and about on the streets doing some hunting.

It was barely night when she torched a dumpster of lesser remains. From two in the afternoon to eight, Gabrielle had been killing lessers. She figured the more she killed, the less of the enemy the Brotherhood would have to deal with. Besides, they had Nightmahre and his brothers to train in a way. Gabrielle couldn't wait to see their future. Just thinking about what might happened made her skin crawl of anticipation.

Stretching her arms and feeling them ache, it was time to throw in the towel. With all the killing and future seeing, Gabrielle could feel it starting to weigh down on her. She had seen at least sixteen futures and that was more than she did back in the day. The toll would come eventually and that meant she would have to sleep for a full day since her body would be used up. So she would have to wait on Nightmahre and his brothers.

Hopping in the truck and heading to The Pack, the only thing that stopped her were the lights and the occasional idiots that cut in front of her. Besides that, she was back at the bar around nine. Hauling her ass out of the truck, she made her way through the back door and danced around the waitresses taking the food to the guests. Stopping at the doorway and checking the bar, Gabrielle spotted Lhyra and Annahbeth making drinks for customers while Ehmma rushed to the back to help them after serving someone. Tonight was a packed night and they needed hands on deck.

An idea popped up in her head and Gabrielle rushed up the steps. Taking a freezing shower and washing off as much lesser as possible, she quickly dried herself and wrapped her hair in the towel. Dumping her duffle full of clothes on her bed, Gabrielle decided to wear a red tank top and tight blue jeans. Fitting the top over her wrapped hair and slipping in the jeans, she tossed on her black sleeveless hoodie and tossed the towel. Running her brush a couple of times, her hair was finally straight and dry that she took a few clips and clipped her hair up. To finish her look, she left her boots on the floor and thanked God that she brought the only pair of laced high heels she bot from Payless.

Leaving her tags and chocker in place, Gabrielle was out the door and down the stairs in five seconds flat. More customers were coming in and the live band was performing. The waiters and waitresses had their hands full that Gabrielle saw Sam helping out just a bit. Waving her hand above the crowd, she caught Sam waving back at her. She then pointed to the bar and he gave her a thumbs up.

Shoving past the people and finding her way to the bar, she opened the latch and walked in the back. The females stopped what they were doing and looked back at her. Then Ehmma was focused on a customer who was demanding where his drink was. Hearing he wanted two lowballs, Gabrielle was already making it when Ehmma turned around.

"What are you doing?"

"Just helping a group of fellow women fight this crowd off. Sam gave me permission to help out."

Making two perfect drinks proved herself to the females. Ehmma handed the customer his drinks and helped the next one. Gabrielle got in the groove when the Lhyra and Annahbeth started giving her the orders. Everything was going so fast that Gabrielle didn't notice that time was ticking by. The ladies were holding down the fort until it was well pass two and they didn't notice. All they could focus on were the customers and their drinks.

Nightmahre was on patrol somewhere in Caldwell. He scanned the city like a hawk and stayed in the shadows. All night long there was no lesser activity. It was so quiet that Nightmahre had to keep himself busy by thinking of random stuff. But it was hard when someone was making annoying sounds. Standing right behind him like he had all the time in the world was Rhage. Just like his usual self, he was sucking on one of his pops. But he was sucking it real loud to see what the male would do.

"Stop that," growled Nightmahre.

"Not a chance," grinned Rhage. He sucked the pop louder. "And don't think of anything funny. Unlike you're brothers, your still on parole."

"Just shut the fuck up."

But the Brother loved reminding him that he was being watched. What annoyed him the most was that he found out that Rhage could turn into a dragon-like beast if he wanted to. In a way, that was Rhage's way of telling Nightmahre who was in charge. That meant he defiantly had to watch his temper with the Brother. The taunting smile and loud sounds of sucking his pop was an invite for a fight. But Nightmahre wouldn't give into the Brother's taunts no matter what.

Checking his phone to see that there was only two hours left before sunrise, Nightmahre stuffed the phone in his jacket and walked out of the alley.

"Where you going?"

"The Pack. Sohrrow and the others should be picking up their shellans. I'll be back at the mansion after they leave."

Rhage just waved him off since he knew about his brothers' females. Seeing that the Brother was getting ready to head out, Nightmahre dematerialized to meet up with his brothers. He was across the street when his brothers appeared. But they weren't alone. It seemed that John, Qhuinn, Blay, V and Phury tagged along. When Nightmahre raised an eyebrow, Sohrrow raised his hands and laughed.

"Easy, Night. The guys said they wanted to check out Sam's place."

"So that's The Pack," spoke Qhuinn. "Doesn't look much. Just looks like any ordinary bar."

"But they got great food and awesome drinks," argued Phride.

"Then let's put The Pack to the test."

The males crossed the street and entered the club. Even though it was close to closing time, there was still a crowd of people. Nightmahre saw Sam helping his people by serving food and rushing to the next table. The band was playing and they didn't look tired the least. All the tables were full and the bar was packed. While the Brothers were checking out the place, Sohrrow led the group to the bar. It was easy for them to walk past the humans since all they had to do was walk and they were be shoved out the way.

But when Nightmahre was about to walk up, he saw someone helping out the females. He just couldn't believe that it was Gabrielle who walked in the back with fresh glasses. Nightmahre's brothers were surprised to when their shellans were letting her help with the orders.

When one man was hollering at them for his order, Ehnvy and Phride walked right up to the man and turned him around. His face paled instantly and he would've shitted in his pants if it wasn't for Ehnvy who told him to take a hike. After the man left, Phride basically told everyone bar's closed and they left. The brother was giving off a deadly look that no one wanted to know what would happen if they challenged him.

Vishous and Phury joined the brothers when Ehmma thanked her hellren. Lhyra and Annahbeth showed their thanks and started cleaning up. As for Gabrielle, she was stacking glasses in a crate so she could take them to the kitchen. Not once did she turn around to see why the customers left. Nightmahre thought that she was thinking they were given a break and she was taking full advantage.

When she did turn, her eyes locked on the huge males and looked back at the females. Shuffling the crate in her arms, a smile found its way on her lips and Nightmahre couldn't look away.

"I'm guessing three of you are the lucky guys?"

Sohrrow, Ehnvy and Phride raised their hands. Taking two steps and placing the crate on her shoulder like it weighed nothing, Gabrielle stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you. The name's Gabrielle if you're wondering."

"We know," answered Sohrrow. He pointed to the picture on the wall. John, Qhuinn and Blay had joined them in time to notice the picture. "I can see you're a friend of Sam's. Same unit?"

"Yeah. We served together. The guy's like a brother to me. As for your girls here, I saw they needed some help. That's okay with y'all?"

"Don't answer," interrupted Annahbeth. "They weren't here during rush hour so they don't deserve to answer. And besides, they would be dropping everything if they did come and helped."

A snicker came from V. All the brothers could do was laugh since they knew it was true. As for Nightmahre, he stayed silent in the back. Gabrielle had looked at everyone but him. He knew he wasn't standing far in the back. He was a bit taller than his brothers that she should've noticed him. But she just laughed at Annahbeth's comment and took the crate to the kitchen. As he watched her leave, his heart sunk.

His chance to talk to her went right out the window.

While the Brothers were talking about the club, Sam hollered out last call and people started walking up to the front with their checks. With the room clearing, the Brothers made themselves comfortable at the bar as the ladies were cleaning up. Nightmahre took his seat at the end of the bar and stared at the room. For once in his life, he was mopping. He just made sure his brothers were busy helping their shellans to notice.

Hearing Gabrielle returning from the kitchen, Nightmahre didn't bother looking over his shoulder. If she didn't see him when he was standing right in front of her, she wouldn't even notice him sitting in his corner.

Since the bar was almost empty, Sam said something to the cashier and walked up to the group of vampires. Telling the females they did a good job, his eyes wondered over to the Brothers. It wasn't Nightmahre who picked up something in his eyes. Vishous stood up and looked at Sam. Eyes of a soldier scanned the Brother before Sam made a remark and Qhuinn burst out laughing. That didn't mean V stopped looking at the human. Even Phury kept an eye on him. Something about the human was weird and it was giving Nightmahre and the others the creeps.

"What's with the suspicious look?"

Her voice startled Nightmahre that he nearly knocked over his seat. Standing right behind him was Gabrielle. She had a rag in her hand and was wiping down the counter. She must've removed her clips because her hair was flowing over her shoulders in waves. The way how her hair curved around her breasts and rested against her face made Nightmahre want to move it aside. But he kept his hands to his side.

When he didn't answer her, Gabrielle shrugged and bent down. Nightmahre caught a glimpse of her ass in those tight jeans and swallowed hard. Coming back up with two garbage bags, she moved to the latch and made her way to the doorway that led outside. Before making it to the doorway, she looked back at Nightmahre who was still staring at her.

"Do you mind giving me a hand?"

She didn't have to ask him twice. Nightmahre left the group and opened the door for her. Giving her some room to maneuver, Gabrielle walked over to the dumpster and tossed the bags. Turning around, she told him he could close the door. Doing as he said, he raised his hand and the door closed. When he looked back at Gabrielle, she walked up to him and backed up to the wall.

She released a huge sigh and racked her hand through her hair. Not wanting to make things awkward, Nightmahre stood next to her and placed his back against the wall as well. For a while, they stood their side-by-side looking up at the stars. Even though they weren't speaking to each other, Nightmahre liked the fact they were close to each other. He liked the fact that he was only an inch away from Gabrielle. But he hated that he couldn't bridge the gap. He feared that if he did, he wouldn't be able to hold back the beast inside him that wanted her.

And he really wanted her.

Sensing he wanted to be alone, Gabrielle managed to lure Nightmahre in the alley. Now that they were away from the Brothers, Gabrielle took the first breath of relieve. All night long she and the females had been taking order after order. Things were getting hectic closer to last call when she saw Ehnvy and Phride scare everyone off. She was slightly surprised to see Vishous, Phury, John, Qhuinn and Blaylock. But when she saw them with the brothers, she easily shrugged them off.

It was Nightmahre who peeked her interest since it almost looked like he wanted her to notice him. When she walked off to take the crate, she watched him slump in the barstool and kept away from the group. The male had officially caught her attention that she lied in needing his help. But Nightmahre eagerly helped her with the door and here they were outside alone. Even though she was playing nice, she kind of wanted to know more about Nightmahre. Seeing the future would be like cheating and Gabrielle wanted to hear what the male wanted to say.

"So," she started, "I didn't get your name in there."

She watched Nightmahre's golden eyes look down at her. Gabrielle was tall, but Nightmahre had another five or so inches on her. So when he looked down at her, a quiver of heat ran down her body that a gasp escaped her lips.

"Nightmahre. But my brothers call me Night for short."

"Nightmahre? That's a strange name. But I'm not the one to judge. My last name is Seeing Bird after all."

"I'm sure that's a mouthful."

"Nah. Sam and the guys used to call my Bird. They stopped when they saw I didn't like it. And besides, I was always armed with a gun."

A laugh came from the male and he couldn't stop. Watching him laugh, Gabrielle couldn't help herself and laughed alongside him. It had been a while she laughed like this and she relished in the moment.

When they both stopped, Nightmahre looked at her and had to look away when he giggled. Almost forgetting he was a vampire, Gabrielle punched him in the shoulder and stifled her own laughs. She was having a hard time believing this was the vampire she saw acting like a robot. He was an easy guy to talk to and had a sense of humor. She liked this Nightmahre. Gabrielle really like the Nightmahre she was talking to.

To change the subject, Gabrielle played the part of a human and decided to ask him things a regular person would ask.

"Are you a bodyguard or something? Because you and your bodies look like you could take down an army."

"You could say something like that," he smirked. "In a way, you could say that we do what you and Sam used to do."

"You're soldiers?"

"In a way, we are. We have people who need to be protected and that's our job. Well, it's my brothers and my first day on the job. The lucky guys how you put it. The others have been doing it way longer."

"Ah, the whole initiation bullshit. Tell me, are they going to make you do something stupid? Because if they are, I'll keep my mouth shut from giving them ideas."

Another hysterical laugh erupted from Nightmahre and this time he had to bend down since he was laughing so hard. When he came back up for air, he looked at Gabrielle and rolled his eyes with one last laugh. But when he moved around, Gabrielle caught a glimpse of something poking out of his trench coat. Nightmahre's smile faded when he looked down at his waist to see his sword.

Pretending that she didn't see it, Nightmahre closed his jacket and looked the other way. Sensing the good mood was heading south, Gabrielle made sure the male saw she didn't care. To show him, she shrugged her shoulders and waved her hands. When he looked at her, Gabrielle crossed her heart with a finger and pressed that finger against her lips.

"I didn't see anything."

When she removed her finger, she slightly regretted not seeing the future. If she did, she would've been prepared for what happened next.

Nightmahre wrapped an arm around Gabrielle's waist and pulled her up to him. The next thing she felt were his lips on her. Her body stilled in complete shock. Nightmahre was kissing her and she was kissing him back.

When he released her from his hold, he was about to say something when she grabbed his head with her hands and brought him back down on her. They were through talking. The little chat they just had was long in the past and they were living in the present.

Nightmahre's tongue pierced through Gabrielle's lips and touched her own tongue. Tasting him in her mouth made Gabrielle groan in pleasure. She moved her hands from his head and wrapped them around his neck, bridging whatever gap was between them. His hands cupped her ass and brought her up. Out of instinct, Gabrielle wrapped her legs around his waist and he pushed her against the wall. Nightmahre released her lips and removed her chocker from her neck. He started kissing her on her neck that another moan escaped her lips. She could feel his cock in his pants harden against her that her whole body trembled. He must've felt her because he brought his lips back to hers and heat exploded through her body.

Something ran through Gabrielle and she wanted to stay like this forever. Be in Nightmahre's arms was the only thing she longed for and she didn't want it to end. She wanted Nightmahre and no one else. She had been sent here to watch over him. Now Gabrielle wanted more. She no longer wanted to just watch over him. She wanted to be inside him. And Gabrielle felt Nightmahre wanting her as well. They both wanted to be in each other. The way how he kissed her and the way she returned his kisses proved it.

She wanted him. And he wanted her.